Light-sensitive silver halide photographic materials have been hitherto commonly processed with an automation processor. For example, a light-sensitive silver halide photographic material is imagewise exposed to light, which is thereafter delivered through a roller transport system, and then immersed for a given time in a developing solution held in a developing tank. An image is thus obtained.
Problems involved in such photographic processing are such that the effective components in the developing solution held in the developing tank undergo exhaustion deterioration in the course of running processing; developing agents are inactivated because of their oxidation with time; and the developing solution suffers exhaustion with time as a result of a lowering of the degree of alkalinity as in the case of an alkaline developing solution, which absorbs carbon dioxide in the air to cause neutralization.
As techniques to prevent deterioration of such developing solution, a number of proposals have been made. For example, Japanese Patent Publications Open to Public Inspection (hereinafter referred to as Japanese Patent O.P.I. Publications) No. 144502/1975, No. 62004/1979, No. 115039/1980 and No. 12645/1981 disclose techniques in which a developer replenishing solution is continuously or intermittently supplied depending on the processing quantity so that the exhaustion deterioration of the developing solution can be recovered.
These techniques, however, have been all disadvantageous in that the initial, first developing solution components and the subsequent developing solution components may cause different development. This results, in a strict sense, in photographic processing with different performance for each development, bringing about inconstant finishing performance.
To cope with this, some may contemplate that the developing solution is fed to the exposure plane of a light-sensitive silver halide photographic material for its development processing, without immersing the light-sensitive silver halide photographic material in the developing solution held in a developing tank. In this instance, however, use of the developing solution in a large quantity results in economical disadvantages, and hence it is necessary to make it possible to carry out satisfactory development processing with use of the developing solution in an amount as small as possible.
The present invention was made on account of such actual circumstances, and aims at providing a method of processing a light-sensitive silver halide photographic material, that can achieve stable development processing without development by the exhausted developing solution and also can achieve satisfactory development processing with a smaller consumption of the developing solution.